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Angel Island Science Hike

In the middle of San Francisco Bay sits Angel Island State Park, with spectacular views of the San Francisco skyline.

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Rating: 5 out of 5 by EveryTrail members

Difficulty: Moderate

Length: 3.3 miles

Duration: Half day

Family Friendly

Overview :
In the middle of San Francisco Bay sits Angel Island State Park, offering spectacular views of the San Francisco skyline, the Marin... more » Headlands and Mount Tamalpais. The island is also alive with history. Three thousand years ago the island was a fishing and hunting site for Coastal Miwok Indians. It was later a haven for Spanish explorer Juan Manuel de Ayala, a cattle ranch, and a U.S. Army post.

From 1910 to 1940, the island processed hundreds of thousands of immigrants, the majority from China. During World War II, Japanese, and German POWs were held on the island, which was also used as a jumping-off point for American soldiers returning from the Pacific. In the '50s and '60s, the island was home to a Nike missile base.

Today, there is one automated active Coast Guard station - at Point Blunt - on the island (this area is off limits). Angel Island became a State Park in 1954.

On October 12, 2008, Angel Island was ravaged by a wildfire. In just 2 days, 303 acres went up in smoke. We're visiting the island a year later to see how the land is recovering and learn how the fire helped one scientist unearth a bit of the island's history.

This Exploration created in collaboration with the Exploratorium.less «

Tips:
Access to the Island is by private boat or public ferry from San Francisco, Tiburon and seasonal service from Oakland and Alameda.... more » There is limited weekday ferry service to Angel Island during the winter.

Several ferries are available during the peak season to take you to Angel Island:
-Oakland/Alameda Ferry
-Angel Island-Tiburon Ferry
-Tram Tours less «

Points of Interest

1. Getting to Angel Island, meeting our guides

In this video, our exploration begins at the Tiburon Marina where we board a ferry to Angel Island. We also meet our tour guides for the day, Breck Parkman, a Senior State Archeologist for the California State Parks system, and Silvia Lange, Docent at Angel Island State Park.

2. Camp Reynolds, Angel Island

In this video, we visit Angel Island's Camp Reynolds, site of the largest collection of wooden buildings left from the Civil War era in the United States. Although the buildings themselves are of great historical value, we learn there's an archeological component that goes with all these structures, just below the surface.

3. Archaeology in the Burn Zone, Angel Island

In this video, Senior State Archaeologist Breck Parkman discusses the role fire has played in aiding his study of Angel Island history, and shows us some of his more inttriguing finds.

4. Angel Island post-fire: moonscape or colorful quilt?

Angel Island volunteer Silvia Lange recounts her experience visiting her beloved Angel Island just one week after the October 2008 fire, which affected nearly 1/2 of the island's area.

5. Slopes of Mount Livermore

Join our guides Silvia and Breck in this video, as they explore the effects of the October 2008 fire, one year later.

"...on top of mt livermore
here comes another verse
though the windstorm was ferocious
the fire was much worse..."

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